N-deal may be near-dead, Left still wants House debate

New Delhi: The UPA Government may have virtually put the Indo-US nuclear deal on hold, but the Left continues to insist on a Parliamentary debate on the same.

CPI(M) sources have told CNN-IBN that there has been no formal communication from the government as yet on the decision to pause the nuclear deal. CPM's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Mohammmad Salim, further added that the Left parties would wait for the government's official confirmation till October 22.

They said it, however, appears to be the case from the statements made by the Prime Minister in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday.

Talking to US President George W Bush from Abuja on Monday night, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him that there were difficulties in going ahead with the deal. Even Congress president Sonia Gandhi told the HT Summit over the weekend that her party has taken a political decision to save the government.

The CPM, however, said it is for the UPA to decide whether or not the government will continue with the Left-UPA nuclear panel meetings. The party, though, will insist on a debate on the issue in the Winter Session of Parliament.

The party hailed Dr Singh's communication to President Bush, but insisted that the Government should also tell the nation about it and come clean on the deal that led to a standoff with the Left.

"From the very beginning, the Left have been positive on the outcome of the Political Panel's exercise," he said. The Left had stridently opposed the nuclear the deal as they feel it is a part of the ''US design to impose a unipolar world and use India as a strategic partner to carry forward its agenda.''

''There was growing opinion among the people, including the scientific community, who have worked hard for our successful nuclear programme, that regarding foreign agreements like this, we must go into details and discuss the pros and cons and make cost benefit analysis,'' said Mohammad Salim, adding that he hoped that the government was also doing the same.

On the relevance of the Political Panel in the wake of the government's U-turn on the deal, CPI leader AB Bardhan added, ''it has to continue, as larger issues of India's independent foreign policy had yet not been thrashed out.''